In upper Northwest Washington, marijuana buds the size of zucchinis hang drying in a room once reserved for yoga. In the Shaw neighborhood, pot grown in a converted closet sits meticulously trimmed, weighed and sealed in jars. Elsewhere, from Georgetown to Capitol Hill to Congress Heights, seven-leafed weeds are flowering in bedrooms, back yards and window boxes.

Welcome to the first crop of legal pot in the nation’s capital — where residents may grow and possess marijuana but are still forbidden to sell it.

It took nearly two decades and the threat of a more sweeping initiative, but California lawmakers are finally ready to regulate medical marijuana.

The last-minute, bipartisan deal was announced late Thursday night in Sacramento, after years of disagreements between key stakeholders over details of a regulatory structure — and weeks of squabbling between the Senate and Assembly over who would take credit for the final legislation.

Vancouver’s police chief says the VPD has better things to do than clamp down on the city’s marijuana dispensaries.

He made those comments Friday following the furor over Health Canada sending “cease and desist letters” to several pot shops.

Chief Constable Adam Palmer says the VPD has acted on 11 search warrants between 2014 and August 2015, and would only act on those dispensaries suspected of selling to youth, or connected with a criminal enterprise.

“We will continue to do search warrants on those, but I’m not retooling all 13,00 officers to be going after marijuana dispensaries, there’s much more important work to do,” Palmer says.

Palmer says as far as the VPD’s response to marijuana dispensaries goes they “just aren’t a priority.”

Breaking on Marijuana Politics: Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley touts his progressive cannabis law reform history in a press release announcing a marijuana legalization listening session in Denver, Colorado, this Thursday. The event will be held at the office of Vicente Sederberg, a law firm that has been instrumental in legalizing and regulating cannabis in Colorado. Could this be an early signal Governor O’Malley will call for a repeal to federal cannabis prohibition? If O’Malley does indeed eventually announce his support for legalization, it will be interesting to see how his Democratic rivals.

Illinois medical marijuana program to continue with 39 qualifying illnesses

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has rejected efforts to expand by 11 the list of conditions for which marijuana can be prescribed in Illinois.

The move came in two parts, both announced Sept. 10.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said it would not add the conditions recommended by an advisory panel established under Gov. Pat Quinn.

The department made the announcement by saying only that its director, Dr. Nirav Shah, had made the decision and the pilot program would continue with the 39 conditions and diseases already authorized.

Sebastian Pacher goes underground on legalising marijuana in the UK. With the first debate on the prohibition of cannabis in the UK for ten years what are the highs and lows of legalisation? Baroness Meacher Co-Chair of  The All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform discusses the failures of the war on drugs and what she hopes for the debate in October. We speak to people who are treating cancer and other diseases with cannabis oil and ask why the government refuses to acknowledge the benefits of regulation. Plus addiction expert Sarah Graham talks about what the negative effects of legalisation could be.

Marijuana continues to be a highly polarizing issue for the United States. Despite growing momentum for the marijuana industry, highlighted by nearly two dozen states passing medical marijuana legalization laws and four states also allowing for marijuana to be sold legally for recreational purposes, marijuana is facing a veritable mountain of hurdles.

JEFFERSON CITY - A Missouri marijuana campaign committee recently hired a top political consultant with hopes of getting the medical marijuana initiative petition on the 2016 ballot.

Jack Cardetti will now be working with New Approach Missouri, the political action committee for Show-Me Cannabis.

Dan Viets, chairman for Show-Me Cannabis, said Cardetti's hiring may be the necessary tool for finally getting the initiative for medical marijuana on the ballot. Viets said Cardetti brings much more than just his name.

"We hope of course not only that he'll increase the credibility of our campaign, but that in turn will lead to substantial contribution," Viets said. "Money is the mother's milk of politics after all."

In addition to dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries lining busy areas and major thoroughfares in Detroit, at least three dispensaries now offer drive-through service, according to a Detroit Free Press investigation.

That’s got Mayor Mike Duggan concerned, as reported by USA Today.

As City Council gets ready to debate medical marijuana industry regulations next week, Mayor Duggan is stressing a sense of urgency about medical marijuana spiraling out of control in Detroit.

California lawmakers quietly passed Friday the state’s most significant medical-marijuana legislation in almost two decades, but some leaders in the space worry that the law’s good intentions could get lost in the weeds. Paving the way for what supporters say is a much-needed regulatory framework for the state’s multibillion-dollar medical-cannabis industry, the California Senate and Assembly voted to approve the historic Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which will require licenses for cannabis dispensaries and create a new state agency to oversee the industry.